Like I mentioned earlier, professional wrestling is still an insider business, even in 2016. That being the case, if theres one thing pro wrestlers hate, its people who arent in the business acting like they are. That means that they probably vehemently dislike just about everyone online who uses any sort of wrestling terminology and so thinks they know everything there is to know about wrestling - ie, you and me. Ive worked crew on wrestling shows and occasionally hung out with wrestlers on the road and backstage. Lovely, lovely blokes but when I tried to chat to them about wrestling, they clammed up and start giving each other the side-eye. This is their Fight Club. I dont know whether youve heard, but you do not talk about Fight Club. Its like, a rule or something. The more old school the wrestler, the bigger an issue this is. Cody Rhodes is so old school that he refuses to admit that he also plays Stardust, even though his transformation into the character was a storyline on telly. He also loathes the word gimmick. The quickest way to a blocking or a bollocking from Cody is to ask him when hes dropping the Stardust gimmick and coming back as Cody Rhodes. I know it can be tricky: I write so many thousands of words about the wrestling every week that I find the jargons seeped into my personal life. The other day I told the starfish to stop burying me' to her mum by refusing to eat the lunch I made her. Shes sixteen months old. So, heres a rule of thumb: dont ask a wrestler when hes going to turn heel or why hes been jobbing so much lately. They wont think youre hip to the jargon and start enthusiastically blethering on to you about their spot. Theyll give you the online equivalent of the side-eye at best, and block you at worst.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
